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Viva Durant and The Secret of the Silver Buttons

Viva Durant, New Orleans’ youngest detective, is on a quest to solve a jazzy mystery involving hidden treasure, while exploring the city’s unique culture, history, and music. This family-friendly audio original features original jazz music from the creator, Ashli St. Armant, and an enthusiastic performance from Audible Hall of Fame narrator, Bahni Turpin.
Plucky 14-year-old Viva Durant, New Orleans’ youngest detective, is on a quest to solve a jazzy mystery involving hidden treasure, while exploring the city’s unique culture, history, and music. This family-friendly audio original features original jazz music from the creator, Ashli St. Armant, and an enthusiastic performance from Audible Hall of Fame narrator, Bahni Turpin.
Plucky 14-year-old Viva Durant heads to New Orleans every summer to spend time with her loving but stern grandmother, known as Gram. After Gram reads Viva an article in the local paper about a missing treasure related to the world-famous song, "Miss Mary Mack," Viva traverses the Crescent City on an epic adventure to solve the mystery. Along the way she meets some of the city’s most colorful characters as her journey takes her to the French Quarter, a jazz club, a creepy cemetery, and even the circus. Can Viva rise to the occasion and solve this musical mystery? Listeners will find Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons a joy to listen to!

Viva Durant, New Orleans’ youngest detective, is on a quest to solve a jazzy mystery involving hidden treasure, while exploring the city’s unique culture, history, and music. This family-friendly audio original features original jazz music from the creator, Ashli St. Armant, and an enthusiastic performance from Audible Hall of Fame narrator, Bahni Turpin.
Plucky 14-year-old Viva Durant, New Orleans’ youngest detective, is on a quest to solve a jazzy mystery involving hidden treasure, while exploring the city’s unique culture, history, and music. This family-friendly audio original features original jazz music from the creator, Ashli St. Armant, and an enthusiastic performance from Audible Hall of Fame narrator, Bahni Turpin.
Plucky 14-year-old Viva Durant heads to New Orleans every summer to spend time with her loving but stern grandmother, known as Gram. After Gram reads Viva an article in the local paper about a missing treasure related to the world-famous song, "Miss Mary Mack," Viva traverses the Crescent City on an epic adventure to solve the mystery. Along the way she meets some of the city’s most colorful characters as her journey takes her to the French Quarter, a jazz club, a creepy cemetery, and even the circus. Can Viva rise to the occasion and solve this musical mystery? Listeners will find Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons a joy to listen to!

30 review for
Viva Durant and The Secret of the Silver Buttons

4 out of 5

Alaina–Nov 04, 2019

It was a pretty cute and short audiobook.
I sort of, kind of, like these little audible originals. It's a smidge hard to pick the two books out of the six options.. but I feel like I've done pretty good so far. In Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons we meet - well Viva. She is the Nancy Drew in New Orleans and she is out to discover a mysterious treasure.
Now it revolves around a old nursey rhyme(ish?) that I remember clapping along to when I was kid. Heck I'm still a big kid at 27 b It was a pretty cute and short audiobook.
I sort of, kind of, like these little audible originals. It's a smidge hard to pick the two books out of the six options.. but I feel like I've done pretty good so far. In Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons we meet - well Viva. She is the Nancy Drew in New Orleans and she is out to discover a mysterious treasure.
Now it revolves around a old nursey rhyme(ish?) that I remember clapping along to when I was kid. Heck I'm still a big kid at 27 but details. As for the rhyme, it's all about Miss Mary Mack. Apparently, in this book, this whole thing had hidden clues within the game. So Viva, being the little Nancy Drew that she is, tried to find any meaning within it.
If the title wasn't a big enough hint, it was about the damn buttons. Still a cute little book that I can totally see myself re-listening to over and over again. Especially when I'm in the mood for short books that are to the point. I will definitely see if I can find any other books by this author as well.

4 out of 5

Michelle–Jan 12, 2020

Even when I told her that the most stars she could give this book was 5 stars, my baby insisted it get all the stars! 100 stars from my little princess. (She thinks 100 is the highest number.😃)

5 out of 5

JW–Feb 14, 2020

While visiting her grandmother for the summer, 14 year old Viva Durant reads about a missing treasure. The newspaper story intrigues Viva, and she embarks on a journey through New Orleans and beyond in search of answers to the great mystery.
Upbeat with intersparsed bits of jazz music, this middle grade or YA sleuth story was a fun distraction while doing chores. It's a very simple story, and it alone would not have maintained my attention, but in conjunction with other things, it kept me reason While visiting her grandmother for the summer, 14 year old Viva Durant reads about a missing treasure. The newspaper story intrigues Viva, and she embarks on a journey through New Orleans and beyond in search of answers to the great mystery.
Upbeat with intersparsed bits of jazz music, this middle grade or YA sleuth story was a fun distraction while doing chores. It's a very simple story, and it alone would not have maintained my attention, but in conjunction with other things, it kept me reasonably entertained.
Free Audible Original Nov. 2019

5 out of 5

Aly–Nov 22, 2019

This was a fun, quick audio. Viva is a curious, smart 14 year old who goes to stay with her grandmother in New Orleans for the summer. While she's there, she investigates a case of missing silver buttons and possibly hidden treasure. The story was well done and the audio had singing and music that enhanced the story. I liked the mystery and following the clues to see what really happened. I would listen to more of these :)

5 out of 5

Natasha–Nov 05, 2019

Exceeding enjoyable little mystery. Exactly what I needed to read right now.

5 out of 5

Melissa Rose–Apr 27, 2020

If I am honest, I didn’t expect much when I picked up this book for free on Audible a few months ago. However, after listening, I found Viva Durant and the Secret of the Silver Buttons to be a delightful middle-grade mystery that was accompanied by a pleasing soundtrack. I would recommend to YA readers and those looking for a fun story with a bit of New Orleans culture.

4 out of 5

Katie–Nov 05, 2019

Fun little audiobook

5 out of 5

Denise–Nov 27, 2019

Cute story with excellent narration. However, the whole thing felt a little too juvenile and simplistic, lacking conflicts that would keep things interesting. The protagonist is supposed to be 14, but she came across more like an 11- or 12-year-old to me. Using music in the story was a nice touch, but having the same melody repeated over and over got annoying after a while.

5 out of 5

Leslie–Jan 12, 2020

3.5* for the story but the audiobook quality was unexpectedly poor for an Audible production. The volume would suddenly change & some sections sounded as if they had been recorded from the far side of a large room (sort of hollow). 3.5* for the story but the audiobook quality was unexpectedly poor for an Audible production. The volume would suddenly change & some sections sounded as if they had been recorded from the far side of a large room (sort of hollow).

5 out of 5

Shreya Chandwadkar–Nov 19, 2019

This is meant for children.
Why? because everything goes the protagonist's way.
Ain't nobody gon treat you good all the time Viva. The real world is cruel.
A good story to make your younger cousins listen to. Has fun supporting sounds as well.
Also, every chapter ends and begins with a 10-second jazz piece :)
All in all, a one time listen.

5 out of 5

Alex Shrugged–Nov 24, 2019

This audiobook was a free monthly selection as part of my Audible subscription.
I dropped a star on this book because the main character, Viva Durant, lied to her grandmother multiple times to direct questions, and Viva did not seem repentant. In other words, lying to adults is considered a reasonable thing to do if telling the truth will stop that child from doing something it wants to do. In this case, Viva wanted to satisfy her curiosity. She was seeking a treasure by solving the clues hidden This audiobook was a free monthly selection as part of my Audible subscription.
I dropped a star on this book because the main character, Viva Durant, lied to her grandmother multiple times to direct questions, and Viva did not seem repentant. In other words, lying to adults is considered a reasonable thing to do if telling the truth will stop that child from doing something it wants to do. In this case, Viva wanted to satisfy her curiosity. She was seeking a treasure by solving the clues hidden in a nursery rhyme. This was a treasure hunt without any redeeming reason other than greed although Viva displayed only displayed the natural curiosity of a treasure hunt. Whatever altruistic motivations Viva had were unclear. It seems as if she lied only to prevent adults from stopping her from satisfying her curiosity and for a vague hope for treasure.
And she lied to several adults. It is not as if she lied to save a life, or to spare her grandmother pain, or at least to feel terribly guilty while Viva does something she knows any responsible adult would object to. She also lied in front of an adult who knew the truth while she was lying to another adult, thus implicitly endorsing the lie and granting Viva permission to lie.
That is why I dropped a star from this review.
In the end, Viva does display a sense of doing the right thing, but at that late date it was unbelievable. It came out of left field as if the author suddenly realized that she needed to teach children a moral lesson. (view spoiler)[ The lesson is to return lost objects to their owners. After she finds the treasure, paying out $600 to buy the item from an antique shop, Viva then seeks out the person originally looking for the treasure... without a thought that she had just paid out all that money. That was a lot of money for a child. Yet, she never struggled with the moral issue. She never hoped for a reward to offset her expenses. Viva was not a greedy child, but she was also not especially altruistic, so the ending became a surprise. FYI, my guess is that the treasure's value was over $10,000 at 2019 prices. (hide spoiler)]
Other than that, the story was fun if somewhat unbelievable at points for an adult audience. Generally speaking, stranger things have happened. If you are a parent listening to this audiobook with your child, you might want to stop the story to say something like, "You would never lie to me, would you?" You will naturally get a negative response... a total lie... but the lesson will be learned that lying to get what you want is wrong.
Once again, I believe that lying to people is OK under limited circumstances such as to spare another person's feelings. For example, I would never say, "You are the ugliest person I have ever seen." Even if true, I would look for something I could compliment like, "Hey! Nice shoes!" :-) Also, telling jokes, at some level, is lying. A joke is not funny unless it has a core of truth, but generally speaking a joke has a lot of exaggeration (thus lies) around the edges. Finally, I would also lie to save a life. Thus if a woman came screaming down the street with her dress torn and bloody as she turned down an alley, and then a man came running up to me with a bloody knife to ask me where the woman ran off to, I would point in the opposite direction. I would lie. This would probably be the right thing to do. This seems obvious.
I might revisit this audiobook later to see if my impressions have changed.

5 out of 5

Zinzee Noel–Nov 02, 2019

I really enjoyed this story and the narration was also great. The ending completely surprised me.

5 out of 5

Maryorie Collazo –Dec 05, 2019

I finally finished this audiobook. To be honest I was about to DNF it because I had no time to keep listening and the story seemed too simple. It got better by the end, but I have to say I absolutely hated (yes, that's a strong word but I did it anyways) the excesive amount of sound effects. I'm not sure if it was because it's my first audible original and all of them are like this but I couldn't stop myself from getting a little upset, especially in the singing parts. I mean we get it, Viva rem I finally finished this audiobook. To be honest I was about to DNF it because I had no time to keep listening and the story seemed too simple. It got better by the end, but I have to say I absolutely hated (yes, that's a strong word but I did it anyways) the excesive amount of sound effects. I'm not sure if it was because it's my first audible original and all of them are like this but I couldn't stop myself from getting a little upset, especially in the singing parts. I mean we get it, Viva remembers things by making them into a song but it was that necessary to repeat it every 5 minutes? (Okey maybe I'm over-reacting but it felt like that). Like I said it got better and I enjoyed it, but is not something I would recommed.

5 out of 5

Alan Teder–Nov 22, 2019

Fun Children's/YA Jazz/New Orleans-Themed Mystery
Review of the Audible Original audiobook (2019)
This was an extremely well done children's/young adult mystery by jazz performer / music educator Ashli St. Armant (who sings under the stage name of Jazzy Ash). It had a fun story line and an excellent audio production with incidental music, presumably by Jazzy Ash herself and her band the Leaping Lizards.
The story has 14-year-old Viva Durant spending a summer vacation with her grandmother in New Orl Fun Children's/YA Jazz/New Orleans-Themed Mystery
Review of the Audible Original audiobook (2019)
This was an extremely well done children's/young adult mystery by jazz performer / music educator Ashli St. Armant (who sings under the stage name of Jazzy Ash). It had a fun story line and an excellent audio production with incidental music, presumably by Jazzy Ash herself and her band the Leaping Lizards.
The story has 14-year-old Viva Durant spending a summer vacation with her grandmother in New Orleans. While there she begins to investigate a mystery built around the traditional children's clapping song Mary Mack (the subject of the song is turned into a fictitious jazz singer for this plot).
Real life elements and historical jazz figures of New Orleans were mentioned throughout the plot as well so that helps to make it an educational feature for young music students. The wrap-up to the story left it open for a possible sequel and hopefully Ashli St. Armant will continue with this side-line to her music career.
The narration by Bahni Turpin was excellent in all voices, although I assume the occasional singing parts were done by Ashli St. Armant.
Viva Durant and The Secret of the Silver Buttons was one of the free Audible Originals for members in November 2019.
Trivia and Links
Jazzy Ash's website includes a recipe for making beignets at http://www.jazzyash.com/let-s-make-be...
Hear/see Jazzy Ash sing "Mary Mack" at this YouTube video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfvVj...

4 out of 5

Kimberly–Apr 07, 2020

I so enjoyed this audiobook! Due to Covid-19, Audible made a number of kid/teen/classic books available via their platform for free. I'd been wanting to read this book for a while, so now seemed to be the perfect time. It was really enjoyable. It reminded me of my childhood years when I was super intrigued by Nancy Drew and wanted to solve mysteries just like she did. Viva is a great character, really likeable and smart. I'm hopeful that there will be a follow-up to this story, with Viva visitin I so enjoyed this audiobook! Due to Covid-19, Audible made a number of kid/teen/classic books available via their platform for free. I'd been wanting to read this book for a while, so now seemed to be the perfect time. It was really enjoyable. It reminded me of my childhood years when I was super intrigued by Nancy Drew and wanted to solve mysteries just like she did. Viva is a great character, really likeable and smart. I'm hopeful that there will be a follow-up to this story, with Viva visiting her grandmother next summer as well!

4 out of 5

Courtney Wynn–Jan 08, 2020

This was a short and sweet Audible freebie from awhile ago about a 14 year old girl named Viva on a mission to solve a big mystery while staying with her grandma in New Orleans.
The story was aimed a little on the younger side with a lot of repeating clues and whatnot, but it was overall a cute little story. They added in music and singing which will be stuck in my head all day. It wasn’t too long either which made the story go by a little quicker. This clocks in around 4 hours if you want a shor This was a short and sweet Audible freebie from awhile ago about a 14 year old girl named Viva on a mission to solve a big mystery while staying with her grandma in New Orleans.
The story was aimed a little on the younger side with a lot of repeating clues and whatnot, but it was overall a cute little story. They added in music and singing which will be stuck in my head all day. It wasn’t too long either which made the story go by a little quicker. This clocks in around 4 hours if you want a short listen.

4 out of 5

Aqua–Jan 10, 2020

This was a cute middle-grade detective novel I picked up as one of the free audible originals in Dec 2019. It was enjoyable and not too long, only 4hrs, although I felt like Viva got into some sketchy stuff (lying, trespassing, breaking and entering) in pursuit of her mystery solving that maybe doesn't send the best message... But then again, maybe I'm just taking it too seriously.

5 out of 5

Salma Salah–Mar 30, 2020

Viva lives in California but every summer she and her mom goes to New Orlean's because her grandma lives there.But this summer was different because Viva went by her self and no adults with her she was confused in the flight ,but when she saw her grandma she felt safe.Her grandma was always nat smiley but she was loving.When Viva arrived to her grandma home she saw an article that talks about a man that's searching for his grandma's treasures her name was Mary Mac.Viva was interested and planned Viva lives in California but every summer she and her mom goes to New Orlean's because her grandma lives there.But this summer was different because Viva went by her self and no adults with her she was confused in the flight ,but when she saw her grandma she felt safe.Her grandma was always nat smiley but she was loving.When Viva arrived to her grandma home she saw an article that talks about a man that's searching for his grandma's treasures her name was Mary Mac.Viva was interested and planned to search until she find them. The next day her grandma send her to go to the French quarter to bring some fish from there and also to explore the city. Viva went directly to the place that you can search for any name and it tells you the history for it then, she started searching until she got all of the information she wanted After that she came back to the house.She stayed all of the summer searching until she knew about Lora and her forth of July dress and there was the treasure that is some silver buttons and inside them gold.All of her searching was secret and she didn't tell anyone about it but, when she solved the case she told her grandma but grandma didn't become surprised because she knew everything and the article was five years ago . The man was dead but the surprise was that his son and daughter came and thanked Viva and gave her a reward and also her grandma gave her 100 dollars and Viva was so happy.
The end

4 out of 5

Nicole–Jan 31, 2020

Pausing @ 15% in. I think I might DNF this one because the song got annoying and I don't want to listen to it anymore. However, I'm not positive that I want to give up on it yet because the story is cute. We'll see. I do know that I'm not in the mood to listen to it right now.

5 out of 5

Heidi–Nov 16, 2019

Cute story, probably more for kids than adults but still fun for adults to listen to with their kids.

5 out of 5

Robin Mandell–Nov 27, 2019

Really charming and entertaining. The performance and production are both excellent.

4 out of 5

Mahoghani 23–Dec 04, 2019

A very nice, entertaining story that young teenagers would enjoy.

5 out of 5

Claudia–Dec 18, 2019

Set in NOLA, this children’s mystery is a super fun and jazzy audible performance.

4 out of 5

Liz Lamoreux–Feb 18, 2020

My 9-year-old daughter and I listened to this one on the drive to and from school. We give it 4.5 stars. It’s a great mystery and the music is a fun addition. The narrator does a really good job, and the book created some fun conversation topics for us. We hope to read more of Viva’s adventures.

4 out of 5

Amaka Adeze–Mar 17, 2020

Beautiful story... Brought back childhood memories... #MissMarryMack

4 out of 5

Frances–Dec 03, 2019

Viva went to stay with her grandmother in New Orleans for the summer and found herself investigating a mystery. fun fast listen. loved it!

5 out of 5

Kristen–Dec 27, 2019

I devoured this audiobook all in one day. So cute!!

4 out of 5

Krissy–Feb 24, 2020

4 ⭐
A fun and adventurous middle grade mystery for all ages. Perfect for lovers of New Orleans, jazz, and treasure maps.

5 out of 5

Joan–Nov 12, 2019

Wonderful main character, lots of fun action and the dialog is well written. The plot dragged a bit in parts.
Overall charming and engaging mystery- and Viva is a great friend to hang with.

4 out of 5

Robin Hatcher–Nov 15, 2019

This was an enjoyable young adult Audible Original. I'm not a huge fan of music and background "noise" in audiobooks. I prefer a good narrator, reading the story the way it was written. That said, the addition of those things did fit the ambiance of the New Orleans setting and the woman Viva was investigating.

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